Harry Nollen

Born in Defiance, Iowa, on February 20, 1930, Harold Nicholas Nollen served in the U.S. Army and the U.S. Coast Guard prior to establishing his own mechanic and service station business, which he operated for more than two decades. A lifelong film buff, he and his wife, Shirley, exposed their son, writer-director Scott Allen Nollen, to a wide range of film and musical genres. While Shirley's specialty was classic horror and science fiction, Harry spent countless hours watching the great comedy filmmakers (particularly Laurel & Hardy and Abbott & Costello) with Scott, who also inherited his father's avid interest in the Western genre. The Nollen home often was filled with the sounds of classic jazz and vocal music, which eventually led to Scott's development as a musician and music historian (and his books on Frank Sinatra and Louis Armstrong). Following his lead role in "Bride of Frankenstein" (1978), Harry played the character part of a bartender in "Plan 11: Black Bela Returns" (1983), the second in Scott's lengthy series of "Plan" films. After "retiring from the screen," Harry retained his love for the Western, comedy and musical genres until his death at age 86 on August 19, 2016.